LI lags behind NYC, other counties in economic growth

By: David Winzelberg August 31, 2016Comments Off on LI lags behind NYC, other counties in economic growth

Despite healthy gross domestic product numbers, Long Island lags behind New York City and some upstate counties in overall economic investment.

That’s according to a new study from SmartAsset.com, a financial technology firm, which ranked Nassau County number seven and Suffolk County number nine in the state when it comes to incoming investment.

The study looked at four factors, including business establishment growth over the last three years, GDP growth, new building permits and municipal bond investment over the last five years, to rank the counties of New York State in economic investment.

Suffolk’s $7.4 billion GDP and Nassau’s $7.25 billion GDP were the state’s third and fourth highest GDPs, behind Manhattan’s $16.08 billion and Brooklyn’s $8.3 billion GDPs, according to the study.

But both Long Island counties fell far behind many other New York counties in real estate development, which was measured by new residential building permits. Nassau clocked in at 2.3 building permits per 1,000 homes and Suffolk registered 2.1 building permits per 1,000 homes. By comparison, Brooklyn led with 25.7 permits per 1,000 homes, followed by Saratoga County with 17.8 permits per 1,000 homes and Queens with 15.1 permits per 1,000 homes. Other counties that far outpaced the Island’s real estate development progress were Ontario County with 10.1 building permits per 1,000 homes; the Bronx with 9 permits per 1,000 homes; Albany County with 8 permits per 1,000 homes; and Monroe County with 5.8 permits per 1,000 homes. The state average was 4.8 building permits per 1,000 homes.

Long Island also trailed at least five counties in the percentage of new business growth. Suffolk had a 2.4 percent growth in new businesses, while Nassau’s new business growth was measured at 1.6 percent. Brooklyn led in percentage of new businesses with 9.8 percent, followed by Queens with 7.8 percent and the Bronx at 6.5 percent. Saratoga County (4.3 percent) and Ontario County (3.1 percent) also bested Long Island’s new business growth.

In terms of municipal bond debt raised over the last five years, Nassau had $7,604 per capita, the fourth highest in the state, and Suffolk had $1,556 per capita. By comparison, Manhattan had $23,022 in municipal bond debt per capita; Ontario County had municipal bond debt per capita of $18,346; Albany County had $14,516 debt per capita; and Saratoga County had $2,751 debt per capita.